What if your heartbreaking high school romance became an epic superhero adventure? Try on some new genres and see how they fit.
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Throughout these exercises, I will be using my story Fabriella Starr as an example.
Premise: Ariella Clarke spent her whole life pretending to want to follow in her parents' astronomer footsteps, but hopes to follow her own dream of becoming a fashion designer. Her best friend Mae is a journalist for the school paper. Her friend Caleb is also a designer in his very own, eccentric way. Danny Lockhart is a local advertisement celebrity. And Torin is known for being multi-talented and doing whatever it takes to get what she wants.
Genre: Kid/Teen sitcom
Example
Genre switch: Superhero/Action
Process: I like to first start off with character building. In the original story, Ariella is a fashion designer, but in the Genre Switch version, I made her a DJ. I was listening to "Games" by the Jonas Brothers, and I was inspired by this vision in my head of her in her room listening to music. I kept Caleb as a fashion designer, but in this version he builds superhero attire at this hi-tech space school they attend. Mae is still a journalist, but in the switch version she's always holding a camera trying to find news. When strange lights appear in the sky, Ariella and her parents are the only few who understand what it means. With Mae and Caleb on her side, they fly off into the galaxy to find answers. Not to be outdone, Torie recruits her own spacecraft crew to maintain her... number one trending spot? But of course, nothing is actually what it seems.
For this story, I just wrote down everything that came to mind and ended up writing an entire first rough draft. I fell in love with it so much that I just had to keep working on it. In the end, I was blessed with an amazingly cool new story.
New Story: Ariella Clarke loves jamming to her own soundtrack, but unfinished beats aren't the only thing she's been keeping under wraps. When mysterious lights show up in the sky, she reveals her hidden abilities as a trained spacecraft flier to defend earth from an alien attack. With Caleb's super high-tech gear, Mae's martial art skills, and Ariella's secret weapon, they attempt to rock their alien enemy's world.
New Title: Crossfaders
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Now it's your turn to switch it up!
Genres
Kids Show
Cartoon
Young Adult
Romance
Rom Com
Comedy
Dramady
Sitcom
Southern
Fairy Tale
Whimsical
Fantasy
Dystopia
SciFi
Western
Steampunk
Cyberpunk
Action
Adventure
Superhero
Anime
Drama
Thriller
Mystery
Noir
Memoir
Biography
Reality Show
Talent Competition
Dance Movie
Musical
A Parody of Itself
YOU ARE READING
Paper Doll Fiction
RandomDo you wish that there was a Wreck This Journal for storytelling? So did! But since I couldn't find one, I created my own. Inspired by Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau, this collection of What If exercises will inspire you to take your story to...
